Alica Hall has been working at the intersection of art, communications and community development for over a decade. As a leader with deep roots in the community, she has served as the Co-Chair of Pride Toronto, helping the organization expand its strategic and artistic infrastructure. She oversaw the expansion of the festival from 10-days to a month and led the development of the organization’s first strategic plan. Over the years, Alica has formalized her practice as a curator through community based spaces and partnerships. Her curatorial practice is driven by a desire to explore identity and power, excavate lesser-known stories and a commitment to expand visual narratives surrounding the Black experience. In 2018, she took on the role of Executive Director at Nia Centre for the Arts, a Toronto-based charity that supports and showcases arts from across the Black diaspora in Canada. In her time at the Centre, she has curated their first Art Fair, doubled the operating budget and raised $12-million in capital funding. In 2023, Alica opened the doors of the newly renovated Nia Centre for the Arts: a 14,000 sq. ft facility serving as Canada’s first professional, multidisciplinary Black arts centre. Located in historic Little Jamaica, the Centre is a gathering space for Black artists, young creatives and community to showcase, support and promote artistic traditions from Canada’s Black diaspora.
Program
some kind of hope: envisioning collective futures
In this conversation, cultural leaders and arts practitioners Alica Hall (NIA Centre for the Arts), Elle de Lyon (R.I.S.E. Edutainment), and Lillian O’Brien Davis (The Goldfarb Gallery of York University) reflect on how they approach their work and art, balancing personal values with organizational mandates, while centering collective joy. Together, they explore potential pathways and […]
December 1
3:15pm – 5:00pm